Have You Considered SEO as a Career Path?

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is defined as getting the most number of visitors to a particular page or website. The best way to do this is by making that page or site show up at the top of popular search engines, such as Google or Yahoo.

Jobs in SEO are growing, and very quickly at that.

The number of SEO professionals on LinkedIn has jumped more than 110% in the past year alone, and it doesn’t seem to be diminishing anytime soon. The online world is taking over, and technology is more developed now than ever before.

Connect with professionals who have mastered the art of SEO and learn from them. Ask questions, pick their brains and never stop learning. The career is ever-changing, and you need to be willing to adapt.

Love of technology needed

To land a job in SEO, one thing’s for sure – you must love technology and be able to adapt to the constant changes that arise.

Most companies are going to want someone who’s experienced, which can be tough because if all companies want experienced candidates, then how do you go about getting experience?

For one, start your own blog or website and learn how to grow it. Learn how to appropriately use keywords and links to grow a following and gain traffic. Network, socialize, know social media like the back of your hand and learn as much as you can about SEO. Learn HTML, coding and link building. Become an expert of your own website and use that as an example to companies when explaining how you plan on growing their traffic and increasing their business.

Be willing to take an unpaid internship. This rings especially true if you do not have experience professionally with SEO. If working unpaid isn’t an option, consider asking to work from home part-time for a limited amount of time in order to show the company what you can do. This allows you to take on paid side jobs in the meantime.

Learn from others who have more experience. A career in anything is bound to change, but one in SEO will most likely change multiple times throughout the course of a year. Connect with professionals who have mastered the art of SEO and learn from them. Ask questions, pick their brains and never stop learning. The career is ever-changing, and you need to be willing to adapt.

Be willing to go above and beyond what’s expected. In SEO, doing ‘just enough’ may be enough to get you by, but it won’t get you far in the long run. Don’t only meet the needs of your clients, exceed them. Challenge yourself with each new project to exceed the results of your last project. It will be more time-consuming, but it’s a guaranteed way to make you an expert in SEO.

How much money can you make?

The amount of money one can make with a career in SEO is almost limitless.

If you work in-house, you’ll be paid a salary. Entry-level positions may start around $40,000 a year and senior positions could pay as much as $100,000+ per year.

Salary, of course, will depend on where you live, what company you work for, how much experience you have, and so on and so forth.

If you work as a freelancer or contractor, your salary is really up to you.

To make the most, you’ll want to dabble in multiple areas – take on large and small projects for various companies, possibly hold down a part-time job with a larger firm, and run a few of your own successful websites.

The beauty of freelancing is you can set your own schedule, take time off as you please and work from home. The harder you’re willing to work, the more money you’ll be able to make.

The need for experts in SEO is continually growing.

If you think you have what it takes, learn everything there is to know about SEO and develop your own website (or two).

The harder you’re willing to work, the more money you’ll be able to make.

It may take a while to get off the ground, but SEO is a career path that’s not going away anytime soon and will be worth it in the end.